"MiamiCuse" wrote in message
...
I have been doing some major renovations on this property and few days ago
I hired a video inspection company to inspect all my sewer lines to make
sure they are all ok. I have reconfigured my drains in each bathroom but
the 3" main cast iron line was not altered.

The video revealed that there is a lot of corrosion going on with one of
the lines (I have three independent lines) coming out of the house that
merged after the driveway into the main cleanout). It has a lot of
buildup and scales and the shape of the pipe from the inside is no longer
circular but more like the inside of a "cave".

One option is to find a way to "rim" out the corroded portions (if it's
even possible).

Why not have a company like Roto Rooter clean out pipes? They also have
drain cameras.
You should be able to show them your tape and get there opinion.

http://www.rotorooter.com/residentia...inspection.php


The other option suggested by the plumber is to lay a new PVC
pipe. This would involve cutting a 72 feet long 8" wide trench along my
4" concrete slab, plus a few laterals to tie in from the three bath, each
of those would vary from 4 feet to 8 feet in length. Obviously this is a
drastic approach and the most costly approach.

My question is, what is the life expectancy of a cast iron pipe? 25
years? 50 years? 100 years? Mine has been in the ground since 1972 in
the hot and humid Miami weather with a high water table, near the ocean so
water may have salt.

I read on a website that 50 to 100+ years is possible, but it depends on the
quality (thickness) of the original pipe. Older pipe was thicker, some
newer pipe was made thinner to cut costs.

You could get bids for cleaning and replacement, I'm betting the cleaning
would be a lot cheaper.

Cheers,
Jim